Francis Harry Compton Crick


Crick, Francis Harry Compton

 

Born June 8, 1916, in Northampton. English physicist and specialist in molecular biology. Member of the Royal Society of London (1959); honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1962).

Crick has worked at Cambridge University since graduating from University College in London in 1937 (with an interruption from 1939–1947). Together with J. Watson, he determined the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and explained how its molecules are copied in cell division, thereby laying the foundation for molecular genetics. The discovery was one of the most important scientific events of the 20th century. Crick was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 (jointly with J. Watson and M. Wilkins) for discovering the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their importance for the hereditary transmission of the traits and properties of the organism.

WORKS

Of Molecules and Men. London, 1966.
In Russian translation:” K voprosu o geneticheskom kode.” In I. Gershkovich, Genetika. Moscow, 1968.

REFERENCE

Watson, J. D. Dvoinaia spiral’. Moscow, 1969. (Translated from English.)

A. N. SHAMIN